Bowen Yang Is Only the Third Gay Male Cast Member on SNL — Details!

Contents:

• ‘FIRE ISLAND’: MEET THE POWER TR BEHD THE SUMMER’S SWEETT, FUNNIT GAY ROM-COM
• STAR GAYSIAN: JOEL KIM BOOSTER
• NEW 'SNL' CAST MEMBER BOWEN YANG IS BREAKG BARRIERS FOR BOTH ASIAN AND GAY COMEDIANS
• ‘FIRE ISLAND’ STAR JOEL KIM BOOSTER ON BEG GAY AND ASIAN: ‘I’M PROUD OF WHO I AM’
• GAY ASIAN EDIAN BOWEN YANG MAK AN STANT IMPACT HIS HISTORIC BUT ON SNL
• 'SNL' 'S BOWEN YANG TELLS JOEL KIM BOOSTER BEG 'GAY AND ASIAN MA MY SK A LTLE THICKER'
• BOWEN YANG: 6 VIOS SHOWSG THE GAY ASIAN SNL STAR'S COMEDY

‘FIRE ISLAND’: MEET THE POWER TR BEHD THE SUMMER’S SWEETT, FUNNIT GAY ROM-COM

Risg to fame followg her special "Nate, " Gadsby has phed edy to new levels by weavg together personal stori, art history lsons, and sthg monologu — routely takg hs at men and the chronicl her childhood growg up as a lbian Tasmania, where homosexualy was illegal until 1997. Yang beme the first Che-Amerin and third openly gay st member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" edian, who hosts a pop culture podst lled "Las Culturistas, " has proven his range on the "SNL, " masterfully portrayg characters om a Che tra reprentative ed as "Tra Daddy" to former Democratic printial ndidate Andrew Yang. Amstell, who beme known for appearanc on "Pop World" and "Never Md The Buzzcks, " stand-up edy as a nfsnal, workg through issu like his parents' divorce, eatg meat, and timacy the Brish ic speaks openly about his sexualy durg sets, Amstell said he was "terrified" of beg gay before g out durg his Netflix special "Set Free.

Cho, who grew up San Francis and had parents that owned a gay bookstore, has squashed the stereotypil tras placed on Asian-Amerin gaed populary by wrg and starrg a s lled "All Amerin Girl" and has bee a celebrated stand-up ic. He often jok that he knew he was gay before he knew he was 's sce lnched a succsful stand-up reer — appearg on "The Late Late Show Wh Jam Corn, " "Late Night Wh Seth Meyers, " "CONAN, " and more. Set at New York’s famed gay vatn statn, “Fire Island” is a heartfelt and hilar “Pri and Prejudice” riff, set to the tune of a queer iend group navigatg the toxic landm of gay male social hierarchy.

STAR GAYSIAN: JOEL KIM BOOSTER

But the film is undoubtedly Booster’s baby, and wh Yang’s star power and Ahn’s creative guidance, “Fire Island” marks a new era not only for Asian Amerin film but also mastream gay edi.

Revisg Lizzie Bent’s story for the first time as an adult, surround by a sea of gay New Yorkers peackg down the beach, he imaged Aten as a prcient chronicler of ntemporary gay culture. In between their Ketame jok and shirtls flexg, the characters have real nversatns about the dumpster fire of sirabily polics gay cisg culture, cludg body image, genr performance, and flagrant racism. However, he is perhaps bt known for beg a rrponnt on The Daily Show wh Trevor Noah, He quietly left the show November 2021 and is workg as a wrer and executive producer on the upg HBO seri adaptatn of the book The Gang’s All Queer: The Liv of Gay Gang Members.

After breakg to the edy scene, this South Korean-born edian released their but stand-up album, Mol Mory, which vered racism the gay muny and his experienc fyg stereotyp about Asian Amerins.

NEW 'SNL' CAST MEMBER BOWEN YANG IS BREAKG BARRIERS FOR BOTH ASIAN AND GAY COMEDIANS

He filmed the documentary How Gay Is Pakistan?, worked as a wrer on the queer Netflix dreamed seri Sex Edutn and opened for Queer Eye‘s nonbary fashn maven Jonathan Van Ns on tour. While he has been regnized as an important ntributor to the creasgly acceptg edy world, he has also acknowledged that gay edians existed long before he and his peers me around.

The edian, who was adopted by a whe fay and grew up a homogeno area, says he was aware of his sexualy at a young age, and often jok that he knew he was gay before he knew he was Asian.

‘FIRE ISLAND’ STAR JOEL KIM BOOSTER ON BEG GAY AND ASIAN: ‘I’M PROUD OF WHO I AM’

“There was this weird attu I get om some guys on apps where they act like I should be happy I’m gettg attentn bee they know I’m not the nventnal ial of gay male bety, ” he said. “I’m an tertg new phase of figurg out what my voice is and tryg not to rely on inty stuff, ” he said he’s glad his troductory material was so foced on his background ― and noted that beg Asian, adopted and gay are always gog to be the backdrop to his edy. His next work, however, will explore a divorced-om-realy scenar of gay men owng the sky and straight people owng the land, he the Tmp admistratn, there is a lot of expectatn and prsure to joke about the issu or to steer clear of certa jok altogether, Booster said.

New 'SNL' Cast Member Bowen Yang Is Breakg Barriers for Both Asian and Gay ComediansBowen Yang, a gay edian and the son of Che immigrants, is helpg make SNL's st more diverse than ever. Though the show is embarkg on s 45th season on the air, Bowen jos the st as the first Che-Amerin performer history and one of only three openly gay male st members ever. The only openly gay men to appear on the show before Bowen are Terry Sweeney on one season om 1985 to 1986 and John Milhiser, who was briefly part of the st for the 2013-2014 season.

GAY ASIAN EDIAN BOWEN YANG MAK AN STANT IMPACT HIS HISTORIC BUT ON SNL

Article ntu below advertisementSource: Getty ImagBowen Yang is SNL's first openly gay, Asian st of this trivia nfirms two thgs: SNL has a long-standg problem wh reprentatn that seems to be gettg addrsed (however slowly), and Bowen Yang is fely a first for the show as the first openly gay, Asian player the show's five s on televisn. When they both later me out (separately), they didn't thk they would necsarily be iends jt bee they both happened to be gay, but here they are years later and are total BFFs. “Fire Island, ” a reference to the inic gay-iendly vatn statn off of New York’s Long Island, is one of the rare gay-themed rom-s om a major stud, this se Searchlight Pictur.

”The juxtaposn of a nservative upbrgg a Whe fay led the young Booster to a lifelong search for inty, pecially for an adopted Korean boy who jt happens to be gay. “I try not to foc on the day-to-day, but let’s face , Asian men are treated differently than Whe men, gay men are treated differently than straight men, and Asian gay men are treated differently as well. Whether the bt LGBTQ edians are observatnal, suatnal, absurdist, blue llar, abstract, alternative, dark, or a long form storyteller, all of the funnit gay edians are unique, hardworkg, and hilar.

'SNL' 'S BOWEN YANG TELLS JOEL KIM BOOSTER BEG 'GAY AND ASIAN MA MY SK A LTLE THICKER'

Kathryn McKnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an Amerin actrs, edian, and mician wily known as a regular st member on The Big Gay Sketch Show (2007–2010) and Saturday Night Live (2012–prent).

Two days after we meet, Booster would attend the official premiere for Hulu and Searchlight Pictur’ Fire Island, a Pri and Prejudice-spired gay rom- about the love stori of two very different Asian men. Booster wrote, executive produced, and stars the film as Noah, the story’s ostensible Elizabeth Ben, and as he would go on to expla later, a lot was ridg on the upg release — for him, for the gay muny, for the Asian muny, and for Fire Island self. Its rom beats h all the expected not, yet also manag to give dienc an unfiltered look to the kds of queer bacchanalia — unrwear parti, tea danc, trips to the famed Meat Rack cisg grounds — that have bee synonymo wh the tular gay statn.

The jok are still plentiful; Booster’s wty script clus a bevy of referenc to queer cultural touchston, om Marisa Tomei’s Osr-wng turn My Co Vny to the hilar scery of Instagay thirst trap “activism.

BOWEN YANG: 6 VIOS SHOWSG THE GAY ASIAN SNL STAR'S COMEDY

Fire Island has functned as a safe haven for queer people sce the mid-1900s, but also has a troublg reputatn for only welg a specific type of gay man — one who is whe, cisgenr, fancially fortable, and more often than not, extremely f.

The pair are bond by the siary their experienc as gay Asian men, but diverge their hop for future relatnships: while Noah chews any notn of monogamy or “settlg down, ” Howie dreams of a fairytale hear him tell , Booster’s stggl wh feelg sired as a gay Asian man me long after his ial bsh wh racism as an Asian man livg Ameri. “I know exactly what you were thkg when I walked onto stage tonight… jt another Gay Oriental Comedian, ” he mockgly says to an unspectg dience member one of the special’s most cuttg moments.